Amplifier

Compensation
Electronic Engineering
University of Wales Newport 2009 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License.
The following presentation is a part of the level 5 module -- Electronic Engineering. This resources is a part of the
2009/2010 Engineering (foundation degree, BEng and HN) courses from University of Wales Newport (course codes
H101, H691, H620, HH37 and 001H). This resource is a part of the core modules for the full time 1
st
year
undergraduate programme.

The BEng & Foundation Degrees and HNC/D in Engineering are designed to meet the needs of employers by placing
the emphasis on the theoretical, practical and vocational aspects of engineering within the workplace and beyond.
Engineering is becoming more high profile, and therefore more in demand as a skill set, in todays high-tech world.
This course has been designed to provide you with knowledge, skills and practical experience encountered in everyday
engineering environments.

Contents
Variation of Gain and Phase Shift with Frequency
Multistage Amplifiers
The Control of Gain using Negative Feedback
Problems associated with phase shift and NFB.
Credits



In addition to the resource below, there are supporting documents which should be used in combination with this
resource. Please see:
Clayton G, 2000, Operational Amplifiers 4th Ed, Newnes
James M, 2004, Higher Electronics, Newnes

Amplifier Compensation
Variation of Gain and Phase Shift
with Frequency
In both the Bipolar Transistor and FET devices the gain
is dependent upon frequency.
The relationship between Gain and Frequency in each
case is:


where ALF is the low frequency gain
C is the effective input capacitance
R is the effective resistance
e is the angular frequency = 2 t f
RC j
ALF
Gain
e +
=
1
Amplifier Compensation
This equation can be split up into a gain magnitude and a
phase shift:
2 2 2 2
) ( 1 ) ( 1 RC
RC ALF
j
RC
ALF
Gain
e
e
e +

+
=
this gives
2 2
2 2 2
) ( 1
1
| |
RC
C R ALF
Gain
e
e
+
+
=
( ) RC Tan Phase e
1
=
Example
If ALF = 100, R = 10 kO and C = 10nF plot the gain
against frequency curve and phase against frequency curve.
Note plot gain in dB. dB gain = 20 log (actual gain)
Amplifier Compensation
Frequency Gain dB gain Phase
100 99.80 39.98 -3.60
200 99.22 39.93 -7.16
400 96.98 39.73 -14.11
700 91.54 39.23 -23.74
1000 84.67 38.55 -32.14
2000 62.26 35.88 -51.49
4000 36.97 31.36 -68.30
7000 22.17 26.91 -77.18
10000 15.72 23.93 -80.95
20000 7.93 17.99 -85.44
40000 3.98 11.99 -87.71
70000 2.27 7.13 -88.69
100000 1.59 4.03 -89.08
200000 0.80 -1.99 -89.53
400000 0.40 -8.01 -89.76
700000 0.23 -12.87 -89.86
1000000 0.16 -15.96 -89.90
Rather than carry out the detailed analysis and
calculations each time we wish to plot a response, can
we find a simple way of drawing the response which is
quick, simple and accurate enough for whatever
investigation we are undertaking?

Examine the gain curve.

It is flat at low frequencies and rolls off at a constant
rate at high frequencies.

Where do these two straight lines cross?
What is the significance of this value?
What is the slope of the line
What is the value of phase at this point?
What is the maximum error?
Amplifier Compensation
Asymptotic Approximation for the gain curve.
Draw a straight line at the low frequency gain up to the
break frequency f
C
.
From this point on draw a line at -20dB/dec.
Asymptotic Approximation for the phase curve.
This is a little more complex and a little less accurate.
Draw a straight line at 0 phase shift up to one-tenth the
break frequency 0.1 f
C
.
From 0.1 f
C
to 10 f
C
draw a line which rolls off at -45/dec.
Draw a straight line at 90 phase shift above 10 f
C
.
Multistage Amplifiers.
Many amplifiers will consist of more than one
amplification stage. This is so that larger gains can be
achieved which permit feedback control of gain. In
addition the different amplification stages may
possess different characteristics which will allow the
overall amplifier to interface to its input and output
more effectively.
A1
A2
The overall gain would be A1 x A2 or A1 + A2 if the two
gains are expressed in dBs.
We now have two break frequencies f
C1
and f
C2
.
How do we plot this?
Gain curve - assume f
C1
is at a lower frequency than f
C2
.
Draw a straight line at the low frequency gain (A1 and
A2) up to the break frequency f
C1
.
From this point draw a line at -20dB/dec. up to f
C2
.
From this point on draw a line at -40dB/dec.
Amplifier Compensation
Phase curve -
Draw a straight line at 0 phase shift up to one-tenth
the break frequency 0.1 f
C1
.
From 0.1 f
C1
to 10 f
C1
draw a line which rolls off at -
45/dec.
From 0.1 f
C2
to 10 f
C2
draw a line which rolls off at -
45/dec.
If the f
C1
and f
C2
roll off regions overlap, roll off at -
90/dec within this region
Draw a straight line at 180 phase shift above 10 f
C2
.
If we have more than two stages follow the same
reasoning as above.
Amplifier Compensation
Example.
An amplifier has two stages of amplification. The
first stage has a gain of 350 and a break frequency
of 15 kHz, the second stage has a gain of 85 and a
break frequency of 300 kHz. Construct the gain and
phase bode plots over the range 1 kHz to 10 MHz.

Overall gain = 350 x 85 = 29750 = 89.47 dB

Scale gain 0 to 90 dB
- phase 0 to -180
- frequency 1 kHz to 10 MHz

Amplifier Compensation
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
75
80
85
90
1000 10000 100000 1000000 10000000
-180
-160
-140
-120
-100
-80
-60
-40
-20
0
Straight line up to
15 kHz at 89.5 dB
Straight line
from this point
at -20 dB/dec up
to 300 kHz
x
Now from this
point the line rolls
off at -40 dB/dec
x
Gain Curve
f
C1
f
C2
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
75
80
85
90
1000 10000 100000 1000000 10000000
-180
-160
-140
-120
-100
-80
-60
-40
-20
0
Gain Curve
f
C1
f
C2
Now the phase
curve
Effect of f
C1
Effect of f
C2
Line at 0 up to
1/10 f
C1
Now a line at
-45/dec up
to 1/10 f
C2
x
Now a line at
-90/dec
up to 10 f
C1
x
Now a line at
-45/dec
up to 10 f
C2
x
Line at -180
above 10 f
C2
Phase Curve
The Control of Gain using
Negative Feedback
As we have seen we can create large amplifier gains by
cascading a number of amplifier stages together.
A typical gain may be 250.
With two stages this rises to 62 500
With three stages this rises to 15 625 000
The problem with doing this is that we have little control
over the final gain value also the value is effected by:
variation in components hfe values
changes in the supply voltage
changes in temperature
ageing etc.
Amplifier Compensation
To control the gain we adopt a process of sampling the
output then feeding it back to the input then
subtracting it from the input.
This process is called Negative Feedback.
This can be shown in a block diagram below.
A
B
Vout Vin
Vf
Va
We can derive a relationship between Vout and Vin.
A Va Vout =
(i)
B Vout Vf = (ii)
Vf Vin Va =
(iii)
By substituting values for Va and Vf from (i) and (ii) into
equation (iii) we get





This is the equation for an amplifier with negative
feedback NFB.
If A is large then >> 1 and this gives us
a gain of:

i.e. independent of A and controlled solely by B.
B Vout Vin
A
Vout
= Vin B Vout
A
Vout
= +
Vin
A
AB Vout
=
+ ) 1 (
AB
A
Vin
Vout
Gain
+
= =
1
AB AB AB ~ +1
B AB
A
Gain
1
= =
Amplifier Compensation
Let us get back to our Bode example.
If the gain of the amplifier is controlled with NFB,
determine the bandwidth of the amplifier if the gain
is:
a) 70 dB
b) 50 dB
c) 30 dB
Amplifier Compensation
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
75
80
85
90
1000 10000 100000 1000000 10000000
-180
-160
-140
-120
-100
-80
-60
-40
-20
0
Gain Curve
f
C1
f
C2
Phase Curve
Gain Bandwidth
a) 70 dB 150 kHz
b) 50 dB 700 kHz
c) 30 dB 2.1 MHz

Note that as the gain changes so does the phase shift.

What are the phase shifts at these three gains?

Amplifier Compensation
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
75
80
85
90
1000 10000 100000 1000000 10000000
-180
-160
-140
-120
-100
-80
-60
-40
-20
0
Gain Curve
f
C1
f
C2
Phase Curve
Gain Bandwidth Phase Shift
a) 70 dB 150 kHz -123
b) 50 dB 700 kHz -152
c) 30 dB 2.1 MHz -174

What we can say is that as the gain is reduced the
Bandwidth increases

Also we can say that as the gain is reduced the phase
shift (lag) increases.

Amplifier Compensation
Problems associated with phase shift
and NFB.
Consider the amplifier
below with feedback
no phase shift
A
B
Vout Vin
Vf
Va
Amplifier Compensation
Consider the amplifier
below with feedback
180 phase shift
A
B
Vout Vin
Vf
Va
Amplifier Compensation
What can be seen is that as the phase shift increases
and approaches 180 the negative feedback becomes
positive feedback and the gain increases this leads
to instability.

What is the critical value?
135
Any value above this is unacceptable.

Where does this occur on our plot?
Amplifier Compensation
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
75
80
85
90
1000 10000 100000 1000000 10000000
-180
-160
-140
-120
-100
-80
-60
-40
-20
0
Gain Curve
f
C1
f
C2
Phase Curve
-20dB/dec
-40dB/dec
135 occurs at the point when the gain curve changes
from -20dB/dec roll-off to -40dB/dec.

Any gain line hitting the -20dB/dec will produce a stable
amplifier.
Any gain line hitting the -40dB/dec will produce an
unstable amplifier.

We therefore do not normally have to worry about the
phase curve when considering the stability of an
amplifier.
Amplifier Compensation
Amplifier Compensation
This resource was created by the University of Wales Newport and released as an open educational resource
through the Open Engineering Resources project of the HE Academy Engineering Subject Centre. The Open
Engineering Resources project was funded by HEFCE and part of the JISC/HE Academy UKOER programme.




2009 University of Wales Newport



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